Benchmarks Recover Losses on Rupee Surge on RBI Measures

An end-of-day recap of all that transpired in the Indian markets, highlighting the major price movements and the factors driving them

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By Dehuti Jani

April 2, 2026 at 11:35 AM IST

Indian equity benchmarks recovered from intraday losses of over 2% to close marginally higher on Thursday, rescued by a dramatic rupee surge following Reserve Bank of India action, though fading hopes of a swift end to the Iran war kept the weekly losing streak intact at six weeks, the longest in recent memory. The Nifty50 closed 0.15% or 33.70 points higher at 22,713.10, while the Sensex rose 0.25% or 182.23 points to 73,319.55, after the rupee climbed 1.8% against the dollar following its record low in the previous session.

For the holiday-shortened week, the Nifty and Sensex lost 0.5% and 0.4% respectively, as Brent crude rose to $109 per barrel after US President Trump vowed more aggressive strikes on Iran. India's manufacturing sector growth slowed to a near four-year low, while the government raised jet fuel and commercial LPG prices, heightening concerns that a prolonged energy shock could further squeeze growth and inflation in Asia's third-largest economy.

HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and Tata Consumer Products were the top gainers in the Nifty 50, with Indian markets set to remain closed on Friday for Good Friday. Bank stocks declined 1.4%, extending losses to a sixth consecutive week, the longest such streak since October 2023 on concerns that the RBI's curbs on forex speculation could lead to trading losses for lenders. Pharmaceutical stocks lost 3.4% after a Bloomberg report said the Trump administration may impose tariffs on drugmakers that have not agreed to lower drug prices in the US, adding a fresh layer of sectoral anxiety.

Nifty IT and Nifty Realty were the outperforming sectors, while Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Pharma were the worst performers. Broader markets ended off their day's lows but remained in the red, with the Nifty MidCap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 declining 0.30% and 0.50% respectively, as the relief from the rupee's recovery proved insufficient to fully reverse the damage wrought by the ongoing West Asia conflict and its cascading effects on India's macroeconomic outlook.

Top Movers of the Day

Karnataka Bank fell nearly 6% to an intraday low of ₹217 on the NSE after releasing a provisional business update for the fourth quarter of FY26 that disappointed investors.

Bosch rose 5% to ₹32,220 on the BSE, extending its previous session's gains in an otherwise weak market.

Bansal Wire Industries hit the 10% upper circuit at ₹257.40 on the BSE after reporting record FY26 sales with fourth-quarter volumes up 20% year-on-year.

Coforge advanced 2.78% to an intraday high of ₹1,186 on the NSE after the AI-native engineering services provider announced a strategic partnership with Solstice Innovations, bucking the broader market weakness.

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles slipped over 2% to an intraday low of ₹295.75, opening around 1% lower at ₹298 on the NSE, as broader weakness in the Nifty Auto index weighed on the counter.

Ola Electric surged as much as 9% to an intraday high of ₹28.13 on the NSE, building on gains from the previous session and bucking the broader market weakness.

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers declined 4.4% to ₹2,254 as defence stocks corrected amid weak sentiment; the sharp rally in recent sessions triggered profit booking at higher levels.

Data Patterns declined around 2% to ₹3,050 as broader defence names saw selling pressure; elevated valuations led to rotation into other sectors.

Astra Microwave Products gained 6.6% to ₹956 despite sector weakness; selective buying emerged on expectations of sustained order inflows.

Wipro gained 1.8% to ₹195 after announcing AI-led business restructuring; the move is aimed at improving growth visibility in a muted IT demand environment.

Futures & Options
Nifty April 2026 futures closed at 22,773, a premium of 59.90 points over the spot Nifty, which added 33.70 points or 0.15% to settle at 22,713.10 in the cash market. The modest premium reflected cautious optimism among traders, with the rupee's sharp recovery providing some support to sentiment even as President Trump's address dashed hopes of a near-term ceasefire.

India VIX rose 2.03% to 25.52, edging higher after the previous session's sharp decline and signalling that near-term volatility expectations remain stubbornly elevated as the West Asia conflict entered a new phase of escalation. HDFC Bank, Dixon Technologies and Infosys were the most actively traded stock futures contracts in the F&O segment on the NSE. The April 2026 derivative contracts are set to expire on 28 April 2026.

Bonds
India's government bond yields pushed toward a twelfth consecutive session of rises on Thursday, as oil prices surged after President Trump confirmed that attacks on Iran would continue. The yield rose to 7.1329% today from Tuesday's close of 7.0345%, extending a remarkable run that has seen it surge 37 basis points in March and 45 basis points across all fiscal 2026, despite 100 basis points of rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India over the same period.

The International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol warned that West Asia supply disruptions would intensify in April, adding to the bearish sentiment ahead of a scheduled debt sale. Foreign portfolio investors have pulled ₹176.89 billion from Fully Accessible Route government securities since the conflict began, as surging crude oil prices raised inflation risks and tightened financial conditions across emerging markets.

Forex
Indian rupee staged its best single-day rally since 2013 on Thursday, surging 1.8% to close at 93.10 per dollar after the Reserve Bank of India tightened the screws on speculative bets against the currency, mirroring the extraordinary policy measures deployed during the rupee crisis of that year. The currency rallied to an intraday peak of 92.8350, bouncing back sharply from the record low of 95.21 hit in the previous session, in what traders described as one of the most dramatic single-day reversals for the Indian currency in recent memory.

Crypto
Crypto markets were gutted on Thursday after President Trump's national address signalled escalating military action against Iran, crushing the fragile optimism that had briefly lifted digital assets earlier in the week. Bitcoin slid as much as 3% to trade near $66,500, with intraday lows testing that level as selling pressure accelerated through the London morning session, while Ethereum fell 4% and Solana shed almost 6%. Brent crude surging more than 5% to above $106 per barrel served as a stark reminder of how closely crypto markets have become correlated with oil price shocks during the West Asia conflict, with Trump's harder-line rhetoric fully reversing the short-lived rally built on hopes of an imminent ceasefire and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

US Stock Futures
US stock futures slumped on Thursday morning after President Trump's national address failed to provide a clear or certain end to the US-Israeli war with Iran, dashing hopes of an imminent ceasefire that markets had been pricing in. S&P 500 futures fell 1.3%, Nasdaq 100 futures sank 1.7% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 0.9% or more than 500 points, as the absence of a definitive resolution to the West Asia conflict sent investors back into risk-off mode and reversed much of the previous session's relief rally.

US Treasury Notes
Yields on US Treasury climbed sharply on Thursday after President Trump's national address indicated the Iran war would continue for several more weeks, dashing ceasefire hopes and reigniting inflation concerns tied to persistently elevated energy prices. The benchmark 10-year note yield rose more than 5 basis points to 4.37%, while the 2-year note climbed more than 4 basis points to 3.84% and the 30-year bond yield surged more than 5 basis points to 4.95%, as investors priced in a higher-for-longer interest rate environment with Federal Reserve rate cut expectations fading further into the distance.

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